http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304157204579473611876116286?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052702304157204579473611876116286.html5
\
Russia Signals It Will Withdraw Troops From Ukraine Border
Vladimir Putin Says He Had 'Ordered a Partial Withdrawal' of Forces



By ANTON TROIANOVSKI in Berlin and LUKAS I. ALPERT in Moscow CONNECT
March 31, 2014 3:19 p.m. ET
As Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev visited Crimea on Monday, Ukrainian troops trained outside Kiev. But the Ukrainian military would be ill-equipped to handle any kind of broad-scale Russian incursion.
Russia signaled on Monday it was pulling some troops away from its border with Ukraine, a move that met with skepticism in the West but could represent the Kremlin's first notable concession after weeks of frantic diplomacy by the U.S. and Europe.


It remained unclear just how many troops Russia was withdrawing. The German government said President Vladimir Putin told Chancellor Angela Merkel by phone that he had "ordered a partial withdrawal" of military forces massing along Ukraine's eastern border.

Russia's Defense Ministry said an infantry battalion—a relatively small number of troops—had been ordered to return from a position near Ukraine to their base some 800 miles to the east. Ukrainian officials said as many as 20,000 Russian troops had apparently been moved back from the border in recent days, but that some 40,000 remained.

U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said he couldn't confirm whether Russian forces were pulling troops back. "There is still a tremendous buildup of Russian forces on that border," Mr. Hagel said.

Last week Western officials said Russian military forces were seen massing along the Ukraine border, prompting fears that the Kremlin was preparing for another incursion into the territory of its largest western neighbor. The ensuing military campaign would likely be more deadly than the practically bloodless takeover of Crimea, the pro-Russian region of Ukraine that Russia occupied and annexed in recent weeks.

But the troop movements disclosed Monday appeared to reinforce suspicions among Western diplomats that Mr. Putin was hoping to use the positioning of his military forces as a bargaining chip in his bid to prevent Ukraine from drifting into the West's orbit.

In an hourlong phone call Friday that the Kremlin initiated, President Barack Obama urged Mr. Putin to stop his troop buildup. Secretary of State John Kerry said after a meeting in Paris with his Russian counterpart on Sunday that "any real progress in Ukraine must include a pullback of the very large Russian force that is currently amassing along Ukraine's border."

Russian officials have said they have no intention of invading Ukraine, but say they retain the right to protect ethnic Russians who live in the eastern half of the country. In return for easing military tensions, Moscow appears to be pushing harder on the diplomatic front in its bid to influence Ukraine's future.

In his meeting with Mr. Kerry, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov urged a constitutional overhaul in Ukraine in which the provinces would have greater autonomy from the government in Kiev. U.S. and Ukrainian officials say they worry such a formula could provide the Kremlin with a virtual veto over Kiev's political system.

Despite Russian assurances, Western officials warned on Monday that the military threat to Ukraine had by no means passed.

"We are not yet seeing the type of activity that would lead us to believe that a significant withdrawal is in progress," a North Atlantic Treaty Organization spokesman said.

Ukrainian officials said some of the troop movement appeared to be the routine rotation of draftees who had reached the end of their service. Russian officials declined to comment beyond the official report on the battalion returning to base. That report included no details on the number of troops involved.

Asked about Ukraine's request for additional military supplies, Mr. Hagel noted that the food rations promised by the U.S. have arrived and the government is continuing to discuss Kiev's requests. He said aid to Ukraine would also be discussed at a meeting of NATO foreign ministers this week.

While Western leaders appeared focused on eastern Ukraine, Moscow moved on Monday to further cement its hold on Crimea. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev became the highest-level Russian official to visit the region since the disputed March referendum vote to join Russia and announced a series of programs aimed at swiftly incorporating the territory into Russia's economy and infrastructure.

At a cabinet meeting held in the regional capital of Simferopol, Mr. Medvedev announced the creation of a new ministry for Crimean affairs, and ordered Russia's top ministers who joined him there to make coming up with a development plan their top priority.

"The development of Crimea and Sevastopol has become a state priority for us," he said. "Every deputy prime minister, every minister is fully responsible for the Crimean situation within the areas under their command."

His visit likely put to rest whatever doubt remained about Russia's intention to proceed with fully absorbing Crimea since it voted to secede from Ukraine in mid-March and Russia agreed to annex the territory.

Mr. Medvedev said work would begin quickly to move Crimea away from dependence on energy and water supplies from Ukraine, and that construction of a bridge connecting the peninsula to mainland Russia across the Kerch Strait would start as soon as possible.

He also said a fiber-optic cable to connect Crimea to Russian telecommunications networks would be laid by mid-April and integrating the region into Russia's national banking system would be completed in the near future. In the short term, a ferry service crossing the strait will be increased.

—Naftali Bendavid, Gregory L. White and Julian E. Barnes contributed to this article.

Write to Anton Troianovski at anton.troianovski@wsj.com and Lukas I. Alpert at lukas.alpert@wsj.com

It seems that the distant sounds of the Russian Economy tanking has gotten the attention of Putin. Hopefully this withdrawal is the beginning of some normalcy coming back to the area.

The following is a reprint from RFE:

Russia is withdrawing a motorized infantry battalion from a region near Ukraine's eastern border, the Russian Defense Ministry was quoted as saying by state news agencies on Monday.
The Defense Ministry said it was pulling forces out of the Rostov region near Russia's border with Ukraine after month-long military exercises.
"The battalion ... has completed its field exercises at the Kadamovsky training grounds in the Rostov region and is beginning its march to its permanent base in the Samara region," the ministry was quoted as saying.
A battalion numbers between 300 and 1,200 troops.
The U.S. State Department has cautiously welcomed the announcement.
'If reports that Russia is removing some troops from the border region are accurate, it would be a welcome preliminary step. We would urge Russia to accelerate this process,' said State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki.

Meanwhile, NATO sources are saying that they are aware of reports of small numbers of Russian troops relocating, but believe these reports are inconclusive at this time.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel discussed how Moscow and the West can help "restore stability" in Ukraine during a telephone call on Monday, the Kremlin said.

According to a Merkel spokesperson, Putin also said that he ordered a 'partial withdrawal' of Russian troops from Ukraine's border.'

Google "Ethnic Russians in the US." Part of the response will be:

"The Russian American population is reported to be 3.13 million.[5]
Many Russian Americans do not speak Russian, having been born in the USA and brought up in English-speaking homes. In 2007, however, Russian was the primary spoken language of 851,174 Americans at home, according to the U.S. Census.[5] According to the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard, 750,000 Russian Americans were ethnic Russians in 1990.[6]"

At the end of the article, several cities are listed with their Russian populations.

My point is this: What would Americans do if Russians in the U.S. requested "protection" from mean ole American rednecks and Putin stationed 40,000 troops in Mexico to launch a protection campaign into Washington state? What if, because of American indifference, the Russian population of Peaceful Valley, Washington voted to secede from the U.S. and wanted annexation by Russia? Texas has reserved the right to return to Mexico, based on a plebiscite to do so. Would we allow it? When they are close to home, these issue take on a surreal aura. However, the above are absolutely possible.

The line between Russian and Ukraine peoples is very thin. Russia is fully integrated into the Ukraine and the Ukraine is heavily integrated into Russia, especially during the days of the USSR. Just because the USSR collapsed and Ukraine seized independence, doesn't mean that the people have changed. Point: the Russia/Ukraine issue is extremely complicated. Putin cannot allow any country which touches Russia to be a NATO or EU member. He sees this as a threat to Russia's national security. Neither Russia nor the U.S. can have their way as it relates to the Ukraine. Ukraine cannot become fully Russian nor fully Western. The only solution is for both Russia and the U.S. to allow Ukraine to maintain equal relationships with both East and West, with full benefits as though a member of each. This means political neutrality for Ukraine. If this can't be achieved, Putin will see no other option than to occupy, at least, eastern Ukraine; and Obama, NATO and the EU will do nothing about it.